Jeremy Lamb appreciation thread | The Boneyard

Jeremy Lamb appreciation thread

McLovin

McLovin

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Who was the last freshman who played such a significant role to success on our team over the entire course of their freshman year?

Can’t see us winning 2011 without him.

Watching his tape he was leaps and bounds beyond where Bouk and Hawk were their freshman years.

Edit: still big things to come from Bouk and Hawk
 
McLovin said:
Who was the last freshman who played such a significant role to success on our team over the entire course of their freshman year?

Can’t see us winning 2011 without him.

Watching his tape he was leaps and bounds beyond where Bouk and Hawk were their freshman years.

Edit: still big things to come from Bouk and Hawk
Expand ...
No freshman before or since had as big an impact on a season as lamb. Boone would be my second pick.
 
bendm said:
No freshman before or since had as big an impact on a season as lamb. Boone would be my second pick.
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Lamb played in the same backcourt with one of our greatest players ever.
Josh Boone got to play next to the best bigs in our history.
I know some tend to ignore those facts
Comparisons that don’t consider those factors are extremely unfair to players who didn’t get the same benefit.
Those guys became excellent complementary players to our grest stars but neither came close to carrying a team , like Bouk or Sonogo.
 
McLovin said:
Who was the last freshman who played such a significant role to success on our team over the entire course of their freshman year?

Can’t see us winning 2011 without him.

Watching his tape he was leaps and bounds beyond where Bouk and Hawk were their freshman years.

Edit: still big things to come from Bouk and Hawk
Expand ...
Khalid El-Amin had the biggest impact as a freshman and it's not close.
 
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Gotta go with Khalid but Boone and Lamb were huge in 04 and in 2011. Needed all 3 in those years to win those championships. Great memories.
 
Good cases can be made for each of them. I would offer, we weren't supposed to win Lamb's freshman year. The role he played on a team that many thought wouldn't even make it to the tourney gives him a slight edge. KEA was the better player, Boone maybe the most unexpected. But Lamb helped deliver in a year we almost an afterthought.
 
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Lamb was also an important piece on defense. His "Inspector Gadget"arms blocked or deflected numerous balls and he intimidated opponents with his length.
 
McLovin said:
The lamb shake sounds like a really disgusting post workout smoothie.
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Sounds Joe Rogen approved.

Lamb is probably on my Mount Rushmore of favorite players post-graduation (08-09 and beyond).

What I appreciated about him most was how soft his shot was. Even when he missed, it would pillow off the rim. It was like he almost never took a bad shot.
 
Surprised nobody mentioned Freshman Kemba in 2009. I know that Final Four team was stacked, but Kemba played a very key role on that team coming up big in the NCAA Tournament. Im pretty sure he had over 20 points in the Elite 8 win vs Missouri.
 
Ts5034 said:
Surprised nobody mentioned Freshman Kemba in 2009. I know that Final Four team was stacked, but Kemba played a very key role on that team coming up big in the NCAA Tournament. Im pretty sure he had over 20 points in the Elite 8 win vs Missouri.
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OP said "over the course of their entire freshman season," and while Kemba was good as a freshman, there isn't really an argument that he had the same kind of impact on that veteran-laden 09 team that Lamb did on the 2011 team that had only one real veteran.

My vote still goes for Khalid, though.
 
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AZHuskiePop said:
Lamb played in the same backcourt with one of our greatest players ever.
Josh Boone got to play next to the best bigs in our history.
I know some tend to ignore those facts
Comparisons that don’t consider those factors are extremely unfair to players who didn’t get the same benefit.
Those guys became excellent complementary players to our grest stars but neither came close to carrying a team , like Bouk or Sonogo.
Expand ...
Well, Boone as a freshman did a lot of his damage when Emeka got hurt. So I think you are half right, but Boone on his own was amazing that year when Emeka was either out in a handful of games or was otherwise playing hurt.
 
What's crazier to consider is that Lamb didnt even get many minutes early in the year. He barely played in Maui.
His rapid maturation in 1 year was incredible.
 
I remember Dyson being pretty good freshman year, having to step up on a team that didnt really come into its own till much later. That team was young, lot of talent left after that 05-06 team. This was the blurb about him from the uconnhuskies site:

1643644443118.png
 
willie99 said:
Caron Butler

He just didn't have Kemba Walker

15.3 PPG
7.6 RPG
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if caron had won a chip then sure he'd be #1 but stats dont equate to significance. cant beat a chip.
 
People already forgot Brimah
No Brimah no NC
Three point play or gone
His defense allowed us to unleash our guards. He was a huge part of that team.
 
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Mr. Wonderful said:
Khalid El-Amin had the biggest impact as a freshman and it's not close.
Expand ...
how is being the second best player on an elite 8 team more significant than lamb's role as the second best player on a chip team?
 
UChusky916 said:
What's crazier to consider is that Lamb didnt even get many minutes early in the year. He barely played in Maui.
His rapid maturation in 1 year was incredible.
Expand ...
I've been waiting until I read all of the comments before posting what immediately occurred to me when I read the OP.

With a combination of amusement & embarrassment, I admit to txting my sister during a game that I saw "nothing" in him.

Ever since, I have scaled back both my instant enthusiasm and harsh criticisms of early-season freshmen.

Once again, I love threads like these, and we are so very fortunate as a fan base to have so much to work with.

Finally, I'll mention that nobody expected Emeka Okafor to start every game, average 30+ minutes per game, and lead the team in FG percentage, rebounds, and blocks. And he showed 'special' from the beginning.

Maryland was just a little bit better in the Elite Eight that year. As with UCLA in 1995, I considered the loss to the eventual champion as indication that the NC was UConn's if the E8 game had been in our favor (a fan's prerogative).
 
RedDog said:
Agree 100%. UConn’s rise in 1990 doesn’t happen without the Dove.
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True... But we do not win a 'ship without Khalid and that's not even debatable. Khalid came on his official visit and was organizing the team during a pickup game. I know Ricky is a reviled player here for good reason, but he was a mediocre point guard and we do not win with him as the sole PG.
 
bendm said:
how is being the second best player on an elite 8 team more significant than lamb's role as the second best player on a chip team?
Expand ...

El-Amin put the program over the top.

Also, remember that the elite 8 game, where we lost to North Carolina, was played in Greensboro. In that game our freshman point guard led all scorers with 24 points. (more than Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, or Richard Hamilton).

It was the swagger on top of swagger that put the program over the top.
 
mussels said:
El-Amin put the program over the top.

Also, remember that the elite 8 game, where we lost to North Carolina, was played in Greensboro. In that game our freshman point guard led all scorers with 24 points. (more than Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, or Richard Hamilton).

It was the swagger on top of swagger that put the program over the top.
Expand ...
if the question was most significant role by a sophomore i would have said el-amin
 
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